Portable animal feed bunk and method of feeding stacked or baled hay

ABSTRACT

Three tubular rings are spaced apart by tubular vertical members. Animal-head openings are defined by the top and middle rings and the opposite vertical members. The space from the middle ring to the bottom ring is covered with woven-wire fencing material. The circular structure may be disassembled into three arcuate sections having angle-iron members at opposite ends with legs which overlap and are bolted together. An alternate embodiment is of a unitary construction. The method of using the circular feed bunk includes placing the hay on the ground and placing the feed bunk on its side adjacent the hay and then tipping the feed bunk onto and over the hay whereby the animals may feed on the hay through the animal-head openings. The bunk may be rolled between feeding stations when positioned on its side.

The production of hay in large round roll-type bales of 1,200 to 3,000pounds involves feeding of the hay to farm animals in feed lots. Thebale will be moved by a tractor to the feeding station. The usualpractice is to allow the animals to gather round the bale and eat fromit without restriction. This practice results in fifty per cent or morewaste by the hay being trampled into the ground.

The portable animal feed bunk of this invention makes it possible torestrict the animals sufficiently to protect the hay from being wastedbut allows the animals to feed at will through the head openings in thecircular structure. As one bale is finished the circular structure maybe rolled to a new dry feeding location and tipped over onto the balefor feeding to begin over again. The circular structure is light enoughbut yet strong enough to allow the animals to move the hay bunk so thatthey can get to the hay after it has been substantially eaten. Also,since the bunk is so movable it will not become frozen to the ground.Fencing material is provided around the bottom to prevent hay from beinglost.

The bunk comprised essentially of three rings of tubular materialinterconnected and spaced apart by tubular vertical members. The headopenings are formed by the vertical members and the upper and middlerings while the fencing material covers the area from the middle ring tothe bottom ring. The bunk may be unitary in its construction or formedfrom three arcuate sections which include angle members at opposite endshaving legs which will overlap and may be bolted together.

A preferred structure will be approximately 48 inches in height and havea diameter of eight feet and weigh approximately 175 pounds. A typicalfarmer may have up to four feed bunks on his farm and each one will feedup to fifty animals.

It is understood that other grains, including loose hay, may be placedin the feed bunk for animal feeding purposes.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements andcombination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objectscontemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth,specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of the portable animal feed bunk;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along line 2--2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of one arcuate section;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line 4--4 in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views illustrating the method of feedingstacked or baled hay using the feed bunk; and

FIG. 7 is a reduced in scale perspective view of an alternate embodimentof the portable animal feed bunk.

The portable animal feed bunk of this invention is referred to generallyin FIG. 1 by the reference numeral 10 and includes three arcuatesections 12 (FIG. 3). The feed bunk structure is formed from an upperring 14, a bottom ring 16 and a ring 18 inbetween interconnected byvertical members 20. The rings 14, 16, 18, and vertical members 20 areformed from tubular material. The middle ring 18 cooperates with the topring 14 and the vertical members 20 to form animal head openings 22.

The ends of the arcuate sections 12 include L-shaped angle members 24and as seen in FIG. 2, legs 26 overlap for being connected together bybolts 28.

The bottom portion of the circular structure is covered by fencingmaterial 30 and extends from the bottom ring 16 to the middle ring 18.

As seen in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, nine head openings 22 areprovided with three in each section 12.

An alternate embodiment is shown in FIG. 7 and includes six headopenings 22A and an additional ring 40 which replaces the fencingmaterial 30. Additionally, the structure of FIG. 7 is of a unitarydesign and is not intended to be disassembled.

In use, the portable animal feed bunk 10 is first plated on its side, asseen in FIG. 5, and if necessary rolled to the location of the baled orstacked hay 50 such that the bottom side is adjacent the hay. Next, thebunk 10 is tipped onto and over the hay 50, as seen in FIG. 6, such thatnow the head openings 22 are positioned adjacent the hay for allowingthe animals to feed thereupon. The hay against the ground is protectedfrom being trampled upon by the animals and from escaping outside thefeed bunk 10 by the fencing material 30 on the bottom of the bunk. Asthe hay is eaten up the animals can move the structure, due to itslightweight construction and thereby reach hay in the center of theunit. Ordinarily, after a single bale has been consumed, it is desirableto move to a new feeding area and thus the hay bunk may be drug ortipped back to its side position of FIG. 5 and then rolled to the newfeeding area whereupon the procedure is repeated. If storage is desired,the bunk of FIGS. 1-4 may be easily disassembled by removal of the bolts28 and, of course, shipment of the bunk is readily accomplished by thefact that the sections 12 will nest together readily. It is also notedthat the bunk is light enough that one man may easily move it about andtip it from its side position to a position over the hay. It is furthernoted that other feeds may be placed in the bunk or the bunk may beplaced over the feed materials.

I claim:
 1. A portable animal feed bunk comprising,a plurality ofarcuate frame sections having interconnected .[.overlapping.]. endportions forming a cylindrical feed bunk of substantially largediameter, open at opposite ends and along its length for free formedsubstantially large baled hay, said frame sections having a grid formedby vertical and horizontal members in spaced apart relationship with thesubstantial top half of said grid having large animal feeding gridopenings and the substantial bottom half of said grid having hayretaining relatively smaller grid openings, and said feed bunk beinglight weight for rolling between use locations and tipping onto saidlarge bales of hay.
 2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said bottom halfof said grid includes woven wire on said frame sections.
 3. Thestructure of claim 1 wherein said horizontal members of said bottom halfof said grid form a plurality of horizontally disposed ring members. 4.The structure of claim .[.1.]. .Iadd.6 .Iaddend.wherein saidinterconnected overlapping end portions are further defined as beingL-shaped with legs of adjacent members being in overlappingrelationship, and fasteners being provided for detachablyinterconnecting said overlapping legs.
 5. The structure of claim 1wherein said vertical and horizontal members are formed of tubularmaterial. .Iadd.
 6. The structure of claim 1 wherein said interconnectedend portions are overlapping..Iaddend.